Guadeloupe Bonifieur

The name Bonifieur comes from the French "to improve", and is derived from the coffee's enhancing qualities{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. The Guadeloupe Bonifieur is considered by connoisseurs as "one of the best coffees in the world"{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Nevertheless, there is no official definition of the Bonifieur{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Producers refuse to establish a product characterisation{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} because of the extreme diversity of cultural techniques and inconsistent quality{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Some historians even have different version of the name's origin{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. According to some, the producers would keep the Guadeloupe Habitant, of superior quality{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}, for themselves and the rest, of lesser quality was exported. According to others, the “café bonifieur” was of better quality, therefore was exported.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} Guadeloupe Bonifieur is notorious for its mystery, as some claim it to be mythical.[http://multifonctionnalite.cirad.fr/textes/guadeloupe/irsa_englishcoffee_glp_norway_md__fr.doc Research from the CIRAD]

The French Revolution, and coffee diseases decreased the plantation{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}.

In 1859, only 2009 hectares remained{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. The Grande Riviere valley only accounted for 6 great estates then: Loiseau, Vitalis, Sainte – Anne, Beausejour, La Grivelière, Barthole{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}.

The French colony used to export 6000 tons of coffee to mainland France at the end of the 17th century under the name “cafe bonifieur”{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. However, the increase in taxes due to the Blocus in early 18th century reduced the export to 1000 tons{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Heavy competition damaged the coffee industry, and the production decreased to 225 tons during the 18th century{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Coffee still dominated the landscape in the early 20th century, but new diseases like the yellow rust, and a 1928 hurricane, destroyed this failing production{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. The banana tree, primarily used to protect the coffee trees, recovered quicker and developed at the expense of coffee trees.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} After the war, the rural exodus broke the growth that took place where the export volume increased by 25%{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Altitude plantations were progressively abandoned{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}, the plots were concentrated in the piedmonts, and coffee was not mentioned in the agricultural statistics after 1965{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Some dynamic producers revived the culture, with economic plans and identity assertion in the zone{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. They leaned on the patrimonial value of the “cafe bonifieur”: its reputation, typicality and history.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

Today, the Guadeloupe Bonifieur is experiencing a rebirth and is now available thanks to a cooperative of coffee growers on the Basse Terre. The objective is to revive and organise coffee growing on Guadeloupe{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. Although only 30 tons of Guadeloupe Bonifieur is produced annually, it is sought after because of its rarity and good quality. Guadeloupe Bonifieur is the only coffee other than Jamaican Blue Mountain to be exported in barrels. The famous Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee is the same variety{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}, and was imported from Martinique to Jamaica by Sir Nicholas Lawes and grown in the three Blue Mountain parishes. Guadeloupe Bonifieur and Jamaican Blue Mountain are very similar.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} Cultural events, museums, demonstration plantation and reconstructed farms are among the initiatives put in place[http://other.franceguide.com/The-tourist-sites-and-events-in-France-overseas.html?NodeID=1&EditoID=188978 France Guide] and managed to attract tourists and local residents.

Guadeloupe Bonifieur is green, long, and slightly thick bean,{{Cite web |url=http://www.coffee-beans-arabica.com/info/world_coffee_characteristics_11.htm |title=Green and Roasted Coffee Characteristics |access-date=2010-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116021046/http://www.coffee-beans-arabica.com/info/world_coffee_characteristics_11.htm |archive-date=2013-01-16 |url-status=dead }} covered by a pellicule of whitish silvery color, which separates from the bean in the roast{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}. It has excellent cup qualities.

Guadeloupe Bonifieur is a strain of the Typica de Coffea Arabica known as le Bourbon Pointu. It originated from the Java offered to Louis XIV{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} and bred in the Jardin des Plantes.Auguste Lacour, Histoire de la Guadeloupe, vol. 1 (1635-1789). Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1855 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cch7AAAAMAAJ full text at Google Books], p. 235f The modern day coffee plants are descended from this line, which gives them a strong patrimony specificity and value.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

{{Reflist}}

• Genetics of coffee quality, Leroy T., Ribeyre F., Bertrand B., Charmetant P., Dufour M., Montagnon C., Marraccini P., Pot D.. 2006.
• Effects of shade on the development and sugar metabolism of coffee (Coffea arabica L.) fruits, 2008, vol. 46, no5-6, pp. 569–579 [11 page(s) (article)]
• afm.cirad.fr/documents/5_Agro_industries/CD_AFM/.../570.pdf
• Coffee: terroirs and qualities, Montagnon C. (ed.), Biggins P.. 2006. Versailles : Ed. Quae, 172 p..

• France Guide - https://web.archive.org/web/20090817063718/http://other.franceguide.com/The-tourist-sites-and-events-in-France-overseas.html?nodeID=1&EditoID=188978
• Green and Roasted coffee Characteristics - https://web.archive.org/web/20130116021046/http://www.coffee-beans-arabica.com/info/world_coffee_characteristics_11.htm

{{coffee|nocat=1}}

Category:Coffee varieties

Category:Flora of Guadeloupe